Research status and hotspots of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of pulmonary fibrosis: based on bibliometric analysis

  Objective  To summarize the research progress and hotspots of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis(PF) and provide references for future research.

  Methods  Literature regarding TCM treatment for PF retrieved in the CNKI database from January 1, 1995 to January 1, 2023 was selected. The VOS viewer was utilized to conduct visualized analysis, and current and future potential hotspots and directions were proposed.

  Results  A total of 794 related papers were included. The number of articles on TCM for treating PF showed an upward trend annually, peaking in 2020. Beijing University of Chinese Medicine published the most papers in this field. The top 10 keywords were idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(375 times), pulmonary fibrosis(314 times), TCM(262 times), clinical research(58 times), pathogenesis(55 times), bleomycin(40 times), TGF-β(28 times), atrophic lung disease(31 times), epithelial-mesenchymal transition(26 times), and Buyang Huanwu Decoction(26 times). In the past 3 years, the treatment direction has shifted from TCM formula to single herbs. The research focus of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of pulmonary fiber is in the fields of etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical research.

  Conclusions  Recognition of TCM in treating PF is gradually increasing. Related research has transformed to focus more on single Chinese herbs.